Gaston College baseball improves to 5-0 after clearing snow off Sims Legion Park field

Ten inches of snow and a Cleveland County Community College baseball team coming off a recent impressive road trip to Florida were no match for Gaston College on a chilly Wednesday afternoon at Gastonia's Sims Legion Park.

The Rhinos scored in every inning before finishing off a 15-0, 7-inning win that improved their record to 5-0 on the season.

"Offensively, we've been pretty dynamic in the early season," said Gaston College coach Shohn Doty, whose team received votes in the National Junior College Athletic Association preseason poll. "I thought we really answered the bell.
"Some of our young guys on the mound made a big difference. We gave up only two hits and struck out 11. And on offense, we were methodical. We scored in every inning and then had the one really big inning.
"You can't ask for a whole lot more."

Doty's team impressed with their work to make the historic Sims Legion Park field playable after it received 10 inches of snow over weekend and postponed attempts to play on both Monday and Tuesday.

"We moved 10 inches of snow off that field," Doty said. "It was completed covered.
"I was really impressed with our maturity. Our guys have really worked their tails off the last couple of days trying to get the field ready. They probably feel a lot like I do - a little tired and a little worn out.
"And we still had to play a really good Cleveland team. They went down to Florida and played well."

The visiting Yetis, who won both two games in Florida in their Jan. 23 season-openers, were overmatched from the start on Wednesday afternoon.

The Rhinos scored in every inning capped by a six-run bottom the sixth that ended the game by the mercy rule after a three-up, three-down top of the seventh.

Caden Davidson (2 doubles, 4 RBIs), Kandan Zollo (2 hits, double), Chris Hendrickson (2 hits, double, 3 RBIs) and Macon Leppert (1 hit, 4 RBIs) led the Gaston College offense that had nine hits and drew 13 walks.

On the mound, starter and winner Dalton Hazlett (2 innings, 4 strikeouts) and relievers Sean Williams (2 innings, 5 strikeouts), Zach Kimmel (1 inning, 1 strikeout), Jack Aurelius (1 inning) and Gavin Aldredge (1 inning, 1 strikeout) combined on the two-hit shutout.

The Rhinos, which have had six games canceled or postponed already this season, will host back-to-back noon doubleheaders against Pellissippi State, Tenn., Community College on Saturday and Sunday.

"Four games in two days is going to be a big challenge for us," Doty said. "So there's a lot of work to do this weekend but I feel really good about today."